The scene is iconic as any on television.
It’s the one where Andy and Opie Taylor walk down a dirt road on their way to go fishing. If Andy Taylor isn’t bailing out Barney Fife out of trouble, or allowing Otis Campbell a free night at the Mayberry Grey Bar Hotel, he’s fishing.
No doubt, Opie is right behind.
The Mayberry duo was not the first father-son to go fishing and won’t be the last. There are expected to be many parents to go fishing with their kids in several fishing holes throughout the High Country.
Some kids may use the old-fashioned rope on a stick and try their luck that way. Most will try a different way.
Katy Stough of Waypoint Outfitters said that kids may not be able to handle the same fishing poles and lures, but they can get the same fun that the adults who take them to the lakes and rivers to test their fishing skills.
Stough has three kids who all like to fish and offered some insight on how to get the interested. Her children learned that fishing is not as simple as just sticking a worm on the end of a wire and sticking it in the water.
“We started them young,” Stough said of her kids. “Just going to the streams, we showed them the minnows and learning about the flow of the water and where the fish like to be based on the path of the water and the obstructions involved.”
Stough said she and her husband started the kids with a cane pole, a pole that is smaller than regular fishing poles and don’t have the reel attached to it.
“It’s a thing where you can just toss out the line and it simplifies it at first,” Stough said. “It’s going to be a little shorter and a little easier to handle.”
Stough said it’s easier to keep the kids interested if they can see there’s more to fishing than drowning worms. She said it helps to keep them interested if they can occasionally catch some fish.
Stough, whose family uses a catch-and-release philosophy, said there are plenty of places that are stocked with fish that are easy to get to. Grandfather Mountain National Park has streams and lakes that are stocked with fish, as is Valle Crucis Park.
Other places such as Bass Lake and Trout Lake are good places to find some success. She said there are fewer trees at those places, so snagging a line on some branches is not as common.
“As we all know, fishing can be frustrating,” Stough said. “Setting them up for success from the first time that they go is important.”
Stough also showed her kids the whole process of fishing, including fly-fishing and how to mimic the flies in the water. She said her kids can now tie their own flies.
“It’s a deeper satisfaction when you’ve caught a fish from a fly that they’ve tied,” Stough said. “They have more ownership in the process.”
Stough said kids younger than 16 years old do not need a fishing license. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission says that youth under the age of 16 are exempt from needed a basic inland fishing license and trout privilege license.
Stough cautioned that fishing takes patience for adults and for kids. They may not be biting right away and the kids’ attention spans may be tested.
“My husband and I will go out a couple of hours, but if the kids come, generally 45 minutes is what we get out of them until they want to skip rocks or they want to do something else that is not conducive to fishing.”
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